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May 25, 2008

‘It will be a life of great joy.’ Cardinal passes on advice to new priests during ordination; families come to celebrate

By Pam DeFiglio

CONTRIBUTOR

Minutes after being ordained, Father Przemyslaw Wojcik stood beaming with happiness and granting his first blessing to well-wishers.

He felt charged up after a joyful ordination ceremony on May 17. “It was this unbelievable feeling of being part of the mission of Jesus Christ,” he said.

Wojcik said he felt some spiritual, sacred moments during the ceremony when the priest candidates prostrated themselves, laying on the floor in a gesture of humility. The choir sang out the names of the saints, and Wojcik said he could feel the saints’ energy.

“It wasn’t just us praying, it was all the saints praying,” he explained.

They had plenty of human company. More than 150 priests attended the ordination ceremony, starting the day with a dignified procession into St. Juliana Church, 7201 N. Oketo Ave., Chicago. They were followed by the archdiocesan bishops and Cardinal Francis George, while hundreds of family members and friends of the priest candidates filled the rest of the pews. These ordinations took place at St. Juliana because Holy Name Cathedral is undergoing repairs.

Beginning the rite

Cardinal George started the rite of ordination by calling each candidate to the sanctuary. When they turned to face the congregation, they received long applause.

In his homily, Cardinal George compared priests to a church’s stained-glass windows. From the outside, many people view them as somber or forbidding, he said. But on the inside, they are bright, colorful and illuminated with stories of the Gospels, he said, and that symbolizes the light and color that priests bring to the lives of those they serve. And that service requires selflessness.

“No one is a priest on his own terms. We’re all priests on Christ’s terms,” he said. “That is a priest’s life — standing before the people and kneeling before God. It will be a life of great joy.”

After promising obedience to the cardinal, the priest candidates prostrated themselves in humility while the choir chanted a litany of saints, asking for their heavenly assistance for the men to carry out the work of the priesthood.

Cardinal George then asked the priest candidates to approach one by one for the laying on of hands. As each knelt before him, he placed his hands upon their heads and blessed them, invoking the power of the Holy Spirit.

All the priests in attendance then formed a line, walked into the sanctuary and filed past the kneeling priest candidates, and each priest laid hands on each candidate. This symbolized that the candidates were becoming part of the community of priests and bishops who share pastoral responsibility under Cardinal George.

Cardinal George then said the Prayer of Ordination, a solemn moment. After that, eleven priests known as vestors approached the newly ordained priests to help them don the garments of their new role — the chasuble, or vestment, and stole, a type of scarf worn as a sign of ministry. The cardinal anointed them with oil as a sign they share in the mission of Christ, and the new priests concelebrated the liturgy of the Eucharist with him.

Doling out blessings

After the procession out of church, the crowd spilled out into a sunny spring day that mirrored the happy mood, and into St. Juliana’s Parish Activity Center. The newly minted priests took positions standing around the perimeter of the gym, and relatives, friends and well-wishers lined up to receive the priests’ first blessings. Other guests chatted and snacked on finger sandwiches and pastries.

Jose Avila of Austin, Texas, the older brother of newly ordained Father Juan Pablo Avila Ibarra, said his mother had passed away about a month ago, but she would have been overjoyed to see her son ordained. Avila had dressed his family, including two young sons, in Mexican outfits, including sombreros and elaborately embroidered jackets and trousers for the men.

Similarly, Milka Christina Mgimba wore dress native to Tanzania. She and her husband Ereneus flew in from Dar Es Salaam to see their son Thadeo Ereneus Mgimba ordained. “When they [the priest candidates] lay down during the ceremony, I felt something touch my heart,” said Ereneus. “The liturgy was great.”

Father Robert Tonelli, who served as the vestor for new priest Grzegorz Maciej Wojcik, said he got to know Wojcik when the young man did his pastoral internship at St. John the Evangelist parish in Streamwood, where Tonelli is pastor.

“Greg is very dedicated, honest, trustworthy, affable and social with people,” Tonelli said. “He’s very pastoral, well-balanced about life, and most especially, he’s a spiritual person.”

Renata Wojcik flew in from Lublin, Poland to see her son Przemyslaw Wojcik ordained. She said she initially was surprised, and not thrilled, with his decision to become a priest, but has changed her mind. Through a translator, she said, “I always thought he would be a lawyer like me. But right now, I’m feeling very happy. He made the best decision. This is the best role for him.”

‘It’s a challenge’

New priest Father Robeth Orlando Molina-Torres speculated on how he’ll fill his new assignment at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Glenview. “It’s a challenge. It’s one of the biggest parishes in the archdiocese — we have about 1,000 students,” he said. “My big goal is to engage young people, and let them know of the hope of God’s love.”

All eleven priests studied at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein. Cardinal George will ordain two additional members of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius on May 29 at St. John Cantius Church, Chicago. That will make a total of 13 new priests for the archdiocese.